Alibaba founder meets Modi

Alibaba founder Jack Ma has backed business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce as the model best suited for India and China, while pointing out that B2C, being pushed by the likes of Amazon and Flipkart, was the American model. Ma — a schoolteacher who became China,s richest man after listing Alibaba in 2014 — met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 30 and indicated the possibility of a larger India Presence. The 50-year-old, who had come to India as part of a business delegation in late November 2014, had then said he planned to invest in the country. He later bought a 25% stake in Paytm, a mobile commerce firm. The search for a larger footprint in the country comes at a time when the e-commerce story is booming, despite concerns in some quarters about unrealistic valuations. India is the second largest sourcing ground for Alibaba after China, where the economy has slowed down in recent months.